Articles of Incorporation of the
Choctawhatchee Coastal Conservancy

I. Name

The registered legal name of this corporation shall be:
Choctawhatchee Coastal Conservancy Corporation.
This corporation shall be more commonly known and be doing business under the trade name:
Choctawhatchee Coastal Conservancy.

II. Principle Office

The principle place of business and mailing address of this corporation shall be: Niceville, Okaloosa County, Florida, USA 32578.

III. Purpose

A. This organization is a nonprofit public benefit corporation and is not organized for the private gain of any person. It is organized under the Florida Not For Profit Corporation Act for charitable, scientific, and educational purposes.

B. The specific purposes of this corporation include, but are not solely limited to, the acquisition, holding, and managing of environmentally sensitive lands and archaeological sites; the establishment of nature preserves and native habitat sanctuaries for ecological, scientific, educational, cultural, aesthetic, historic, scenic or open space opportunities; the scientific study, protection and preservation of native marine, estuarine, littoral, sylvatic and miscellaneous other natural communities together with all individual living entities contained therein; and the protection and care of imperiled, abused, threatened or endangered individual animals, creatures, or otherwise threatened organisms.

IV. Organization

A. The corporation is organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

B. Notwithstanding any other provision of these Articles, the corporation shall not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried on (1) by a corporation exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or (2) by a corporation to which are deductible under Section 170(c)(2) of the said Code, or the corresponding provisions of any future statute of the United States.

C. No substantial part of the activities of this corporation shall consist of carrying on propaganda or otherwise influence legislation; nor shall the corporation participate or intervene in any political campaign (including the publishing or distribution of statements) on behalf of any candidate for public office.

V. Manner of Election of Directors

The Incorporators shall act as the Initial Directors. The Incorporators shall hold an organizational meeting at the call of a majority of the Incorporators to complete the organization of the corporation and elect active Directors. Following ratification of the Bylaws any subsequent new Directors shall be elected as set forth in the ratified Bylaws.

VI. Corporation Property Distribution upon Dissolution

A. The property of this corporation is irrevocably dedicated to charitable land conservation purposes and no part of the net income or assets of the corporation shall ever inure to the benefit of any incorporator, director, trustee, member of office of this corporation, or to any private person.

B. Upon dissolution or winding up of this corporation, any assets remaining after payment of, or provision for payment of, all debts and liabilities shall be distributed, conditional to their use being fully in accord with the purposes of this corporation, to a governmental entity described in Section 170(b)(1)(A)(v) of the Internal Revenue Code, or to a nonprofit fund, foundation, or corporation which is organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes, which has established its tax exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and which is qualified to receive “qualified conservation contributions” within the meaning of Section 170(h) of said Code, or the corresponding provisions of any future statute of the United States.

C. In the event of a liquidation of this corporation, all corporate assets shall be disposed of in such a manner as may be directed by decree of the superior court for the county in which the corporation has its principal office, on petition therefore by the Attorney General or any person concerned in the dissolution, in a proceeding to which the Attorney General is a party.

VII. Initial Registered Agent and Street Address

The name and address in the State of Florida of this Corporation’s initial registered agent for service of process.

VIII. Effective Date

These Articles of Incorporation shall go into effect on the 1st of November 1999 or on the earliest date thereafter allowable by law.

IX. Incorporators

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being the Incorporators of the Choctawhatchee Coastal Conservancy Corporation named in these Articles of Incorporation on the 8th of November 1999 in the City of Lafayette, County of Tippecanoe, State of Indiana, United States of America.

© 2009 Coastal Conservancy